After nearly a year and over 120 live press conferences from Fredericton, New Brunswick Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell will appear live on stage at the KIRA Amphitheatre in St. Andrews on August 28th--but this time in a whole new light: as a musician.

Dr. Russell's swing and jazz band, the Jenn Russell Big Band, will perform at the Harvest Music Festival this fall as well, but the KIRA event will be one of her first returns to the stage as a performer since the pandemic began. The event, which will be a celebration of our province's return to green, will also recognize some of the outstanding members of the Saint Andrews area who stepped up to the plate for the community in the time of COVID-19.

Dr. Jennifer Russell was in St. Andrews on Thursday for a pop-up walk-in vaccination clinic where 218 people were vaccinated with either a first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The walk-in clinic was one of over a dozen pop-up clinics taking place across the province to reach people in regions where accessibility can be an issue. You can find CHCO's full coverage of the walk-in clinic in St. Andrews on our Facebook page. 

Finally, Charlotte County Pride held its annual March in celebration of our region's LGBTQ+ community in St. Stephen on Saturday. Dozens of residents from across the county came out to participate in the walk, which began at Carman's Diner and travelled down King Street before ending at Chocolate Park. Organizers Todd Ross and Tracey Matheson said a few words at the park, reminding participants that there is still work to be done on the path to equality, specifically with regards to legislation that would make conversion therapy illegal in Canada. Bill C-6 has still yet to pass and, if Parliament is dissolved ahead of a widely anticipated fall election, this could lead to the legislative progress that the bill has made thus far being lost.